These work schedules offer your employees a weekday off two or four times a month with no cut in pay or benefits. A 4/10 schedule means that the employee works four ten-hour days in the week for a total of forty hours per week. The most common days employees take off are Monday or Friday. If this will leave staffing too thin on these days, you can have a rotating schedule or give these days off to the people with seniority and have the others take Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday off. If employees are paid biweekly, a 9/80 work schedule may also be considered. This consists of nine workdays in the two-week pay period. Eight of the nine days are worked at nine hours and one at eight hours for a total of eighty hours. There is one day off every other week.

If you live in a state where overtime applies to any hours over eight that are worked in one day, there are ways to get around this, but you have to be sure to do it legally to avoid stiff penalties and breaking the law. Contact your state employment agency to find out how to do it. You may be required to put the idea up to a vote, with a requirement of two-thirds majority for it to pass. There will be paperwork and employee signatures required before implementing the schedule change and the ability to waive the overtime pay.